Stiffening the uppers of boots and shoes



1937- 4 A. J. SERRA 2,088,766

STIFFENING THE UPPERS OF BOOTS AND SHOES Filed March 6, 1937 //v Vf/V 70/5 flv-nfwv .S (7 AL Fig.4. ZZZ? r and thereafter to skive their rear margins.

Patented Aug. 3, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STIFFENING THE UPPERS 0F BOOTS AND SHOES Application March 6, 1937, Serial No. 129,356 In Great Britain March 5, 1936 7 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe stiffeners impregnated with a stiffening substance and is herein illustrated as embodied in a toe stiffener comprising a blank of absorbent napped material from which along a margin thereof the nap has been removed and a piece of thin fabric attached to said margin.

It is desirable, particularly in shoes which have no toe cap or tip, that the toe stiffener should have an extremely flimsy rear margin. Hitherto, it has been customary in the manufacture of single layer impregnated blanks to impregnate blanks of cotton flannel or other suitable napped fabric with a stiffening substance Although by such a procedure a margin of considerable flexibility is secured, the present invention provides a blank with a more flexible and flimsy margin. 7

According to the present invention, a porous absorbent blank of napped material has the nap I removed from along a margin thereof, and there is attached to this margin a piece of thin opentextured fabric such as muslin with one edge of the piece projecting beyond the edge of the margin. The composite blank thus prepared, preferably after having its margin condensed, is then impregnated with a stiffening substance such as a cellulosic derivative in solution. By this method a stiffener blank having an extremely flimsy margin along its edge is produced.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a blank of cotton flannel having the shape of a toe stiffener, the nap on both faces along the rear margin of which has been removed;

Fig. 2 is a plan showing the same blank after a strip of muslin has been attached to its margin to form a composite blank;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of a machine for condensing the rear margin of the blank of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 shows the composite blank in process of being immersed in a solution of a stiffening substance.

As herein illustrated, a blank of cotton flannel l of proper contour and having a nap on both faces is skived along its rear margin. The skiving is preferably effected on both faces as indicated at 9 and II to remove the nap from the fabric, for example for a width of one-half inch on one face and one inch on the other, so as to expose the warp and weft threads. The wider skived portion 9 on one face then has applied to it a band Of adhes ve ex ending along its edge. This band of adhesive may, for example, be of a Width of one-half inch and may consist of rubber latex. After the coating of adhesive has been allowed to become suitably tacky, a strip I3 of very open-textured muslin is laid thereon with one edge projecting a short distance beyond the edge of the cotton flannel. This strip of muslin may, for example, have a width of one-half inch and project beyond the edge of the cotton flannel one-sixteenth of an inch. The muslin strip is preferably made by cutting in two longitudinally a'tape or ribbon of the muslin so that each strip thus produced will have one selvage edge, and it is this edge, since it is not frayable, which projects slightly beyond the edge of the cotton flannel blank.

The entire rear margin of the composite blank thus produced is now preferably condensed before being impregnated with a solution of a stiffening substance so that the rear margin will take up less of the impregnating solutionfthan it otherwise would. The rear margin *may be condensed by the use of a heated press in the manner described in United States application Serial No. 715,960, filed March 16, 1934, in the names of Bruno E. Schwarz and Floyd D. Dean. A portion of such a press is shown in Fig. 3, this press being the same as that described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,443,378, granted January 30, 1923, upon an application filed in the name of Joseph H. Ordway, except that the bed I 5 is rigidly supported instead of being yieldingly supported. The rear portion of the composite blank is placed upon the bed, and the heated presser I1 is brought down upon the rear margin, which has previously been moistened, and is held thereon for a short interval. The absence of a selvage from that edge of the strip l3 which lies over the margin of the cotton flan- I nel avoids the formation of any ridge at that locality in the finished stiffener. The composite blank thus prepared may then be impregnated in the manner described in the application of Schwarz and Dean referred to above; or it may be impregnated, as shown in Fig. 4, by immersing it in a solution IQ of a stiffening substance. Preferably, in either case, the solution is a solution of a cellulosic derivative such as celluloid of reduced viscosity which will readily permeate the blank. After the blanks have been impregnated they may conveniently be packed in sealed containers.

An alternative procedure in accordance with the invention is to apply the muslin, which affords the projecting portion aforementioned, not

as a mere marginal strip but all over the one face of the cotton flannel blank. In this case pieces of the muslin cut out to substantially the same shape and size as the cotton flannel blank can be employed but the blank of muslin will preferably, though not necessarily, be attached by the adhesive to the marginally skived blank not all over one of its faces but merely locally. For instance, the attachment and the subsequent condensing pressure may be along the rear margin of the cotton flannel blank only Where that action has been described above as occurring in the case of the use of the strip, leaving the rest of the muslin loose from the cotton flannel until the impregnation with stiffening substance takes place, when the rest of the muslin layer will be pressed into place and thereby become stuck all over to the cotton flannel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of making a toe stiffener which comprises providing a blank of Woven fabric having a napped face, removing the nap from the rear margin of the blank, attaching to the blank along said margin a piece of thin open-textured woven fabric with an edge of the piece extending beyondthe edge of the margin, and impregnating the composite blank thus formed with a stiffening substance.

2. The method of making a shoe stiffener which comprises providing a blank having a napped face, removing the nap from a margin of the blank, attaching to the blank along said margin 9. piece of thin open-textured fabric, condensing the margin of the composite blank thus formed, and impregnating it with a stiffening substance.

3. The method of making a shoe stiffener which comprises providing a blank having a napped face, removing the nap from a margin of the blank, attaching to the blank along said margin a piece of thin open-textured fabric with an edge of the piece extending beyond the edge of the margin, condensing the margin of the composite blank thus formed, and impregnating it with a stiffening substance.

4. The method of making a toe stiffener which comprises providing a wovenv fabric blank having napped'faces, skiving the nap from the rear margin of the blank on both faces thereof to expose the warp and weft threads, attaching to the skived margin a piece of thin open-textured Woven fabric With the edge of the piece extending beyond the edge of the skived margin, and impregnating the composite blank thus formed with a stiffening substance.

5. The method of making a shoe stiffener which comprises providing a fabric blank having napped faces, skiving the nap from a margin. of the blank on both faces thereof to expose the warp and weft threads, attaching to the skived margin a piece of thin open-textured fabric with the edge of the piece extending beyond the edge of the skived margin, condensing the margin of the composite blank thus formed, and impregnating it with a stiffening substance.

6. A toe stiffener for boots and shoes comprising a base of napped fabric from which along the rear margin thereof the nap has been removed,

and a piece of thin open-textured Woven fabric attached to said margin with an edge of the piece extending beyond the edge of the margin, said composite blank being impregnated with a beyond the edge of the margin, said composite blank being impregnated with a stiffening substance.

ARTHUR J. SERRA. 

